By Alexander Perepechko
Published on March 31, 2012
Gaetano Mosca knew that elites do not like to be studied. But the faltering parliamentary regime in Italy in the late 19th –early 20th century worried him. Mosca thought that the ruling class was behind these political troubles. In his seminal The Ruling Class and A Short History of Political Philosophy, he investigated how the manner in which the ruling class renews its membership has a crucial impact on the prosperity of countries. Mosca applied the notion of the ruling class merely to political activities. One of the founding fathers of the Machiavellian school of thought, Mosca is also known as an architect of comparative political analysis and in some way an opponent of democracy. Qualities of rulers, prevailing political ideas and values, ineffectiveness of elections and leadership selection were among Mosca’s major concerns. His work is important for understanding the dynamics of elites in present-day America, where the political regime malfunctions and the political system possibly suffers systemic failure.
Mosca (1939) had no confidence in the inborn “good sense” of the masses or that man is born “good”. He also understood well that since politicians and administrators manage the public wealth, political and administrative heads are far more powerful than affluent citizens. Mosca believed that the qualities of people who govern are crucial. Following L’Ancien Régime of Taine (1986), Mosca was convinced that the decadence of the ruling class leads to major upheavals and revolutions. He was well aware that many elected officials (politicians) advocate moral principles to achieve power, but when in power these same politicians often rule without regard to moral principles. In addition to qualities described by Machiavelli, Mosca considers energy, capacity for work, personal courage and ability to make sacrifices as essential to politicians. In the current difficult time, can the American ruling class make sacrifices? Do members of American elites offer their lives or the lives of their children to wars in Iraq or Afghanistan? Or do these elites simply continue using the American political system, especially the state, to increase unlawful appropriations and to indulge in major usurpations of the national patrimony?
Mosca (1939: 488; 1972: 253) asserted that in a modern state the moral level of numerous salaried employees of numerous bureaucratic organizations (public services, military and others) is the moral level of the ruling class. In the best-case scenario, a newly elected official can choose the new head of a bureaucratic organization. And it is not uncommon for a politician to choose people of mediocre or second-rate talents. These people are almost always flattering and smooth. They give a politician few grounds for jealousy and complement his own capacities. Almost always recruited according to the autocratic system, bureaucracies possess a good share of the effective power in democratic countries. A bureaucracy can easily shatter individual and collective resistance, suppress initiative (except the initiative of its own elements) and sap energy from society.
Political parties are very skilled at creating legendary heroes, who serve citizens. Mosca (1939: 194, 450) wisely advises us to lower expectations about politicians and public servants. All we can fairly ask of our rulers in terms of morality is 1) that they should not fall below the average moral level of the society they govern, 2) that they should match their interests reasonably with the public interest and 3) that they should not do anything too shameful or disgusting. Does the American ruling class meet these expectations?
Mosca, G. (1972) A Short History of Political Philosophy. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.
Mosca, G. (1939) The Ruling Class (Elementi di Scienza Politica). New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Taine, H. (1986) Les origines de la France contemporaine. Tome I: L’Ancien Régime. Paris: Les Éditions Robert Laffont, collection Bouquins. Available at http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/taine_hippolyte/origine_France_t1/taine_origine_t1_ancien.pdf.